Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an albino checkered garter. I've had him for almost a year. His last shed was about 2 weeks ago. I noticed today that the very tip of his tail looks dead. It looks like it got tied off and died. It is just the very tip, like an 1/8 of an inch or even less. The dead part is still attached. What do I do?! Do I leave the dead piece on? What caused it to happen and will it get worse? Is his diet the cause? He eats 6 to 8 live minnows a week. I read the post below about how to switch him from fish to pinkies - should I do that?

One reason that comes to mind, is an incomplete shed. The old skin breaks at the tail and cuts off the blood supply to the tip, so the tip of the tail dies. Just like you concluded, it was probably tied off.

I don't think there is anything you need to do or even can do about it, besides taking it to a vet (better safe than sorry). When it's that little that died, it probably won't present any serious problems for the snake.

Check the humidity, it's one of the most common reason behind shedding problems. I was warned about this problem when I first started keeping reptiles, lizards lose toes for the same reason. It's a good idea to look for potential skin remnants after a shed. If there are any, you can for example put the animal in a tank with moist paper as substrate and you keep it there for about half an hour to an hour. Sometimes it finishes the job by itself, but if it doesn't, you might have to help it a bit.

Thanks for the info!

His substrate is repti-bark. There is a large waterbowl in his tank at all times but I don't think the tank is humid at all. So maybe a light misting of the tank for a couple of days before he is going to shed?

Yes, light misting during the whole shedding process (from the day the eyes get cloudy) solves a lot of problems. So does a wetbox, ie. a plastic box with moist but not wet peat or moss in it, with a snake-size hole cut into the lid.